The Judgement of Tom Riddle
by Hamm On Wry
Summary: Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, meets his Maker...Literally! From Voldy's POV following the final battle... part of my AU The Best Defense AN: A sweat lodge is mentioned... you have to read The Best Defense to understand that part..


**_PAIN_**

Voldemort lifted his eyes to view his surroundings. He was in the middle of what appeared to be a large arena with grandstands and a high judge's bench. The last thing that he remembered was that brat Potter slicing off his hand, then slashing his legs. He had also felt the steel of the katana blade sever his head. He looked over his body, and seeing it whole, smiled. "_I don't seem too much the worse for wear,"_ he thought.

"**_TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE! STAND AND FACE YOUR JUDGEMENT!"_**

With a shock, he once again looked around. The grandstands were now filled and there were several figures up in the judges bench, the center Personage being an almost blinding light. Tom Riddle, aka Lord Voldemort, suddenly felt very small. He decided to attempt to bluff his way through. Reaching in his pocket and grabbing his wand, he sneered at the judges.

"How dare you presume to judge me! Do you not know that I am the ruler of the Wizarding world?" He suddenly felt the wand falling from nerveless fingers and saw a glowing ball of light coming out of the wand and returning to his body. He now knew that his final horcrux was now useless. Six more balls of light came from the area of the judge's bench and floated toward him, then entered him. He felt his torn and shattered soul begin to reattach itself. He attempted to cast a spell at the judges, however the wand was now no more than an oddly shaped stick. Useless.

"**_TOM RIDDLE. YOU HAVE BEEN TRIED, CONVICTED AND EXECUTED BY THE COURT OF THE LIVING FOR MASS MURDER AND SPREADING MISERY AND PAIN THROUGHOUT BOTH THE MAGICAL AND NON-MAGICAL WORLDS. THEY HAVE DELIVERED YOU TO US FOR YOUR ETERNAL JUDGEMENT. WE SHALL NOW HEAR EVIDENCE AGAINST YOU. WHO SPEAKS AGAINST THE DEFENDANT?_**

"Maker, I speak against him." Voldemort looked and saw a squat girl with lank hair and thick glasses. With a shock, he realized that it was the girl Myrtle who had been killed by his basilisk when he opened the Chamber of Secrets. Inwardly he cringed, she was his first kill, even if he didn't do it personally. An unfamiliar creature floated up to Myrtle, placed its hands on her head, then nodded at the judges. This procedure was repeated hundreds of times with people, both wizard and muggle, throughout the grandstand. The odd thing was that he did not personally kill or torture all of these people, however he was also being held responsible for those whom he had ordered killed and tortured. Even odder was the fact that even when he did not kill them personally, was not even present, he still could see how they were wronged by him. As each spirit testified, Voldemort felt the weight of guilt become that much heavier. By the time that last person had testified, he was literally being dragged to his knees by the weight of guilt. The worst part about it was that the final witness was Severus Snape, wearing a white robe and a self satisfied smirk. He blew his stack.

"Just who do you think you are to presume to judge me? Tell me!" The Personage in the middle of the judges bench spoke then, a low rumbling voice, soft as velvet, but with a definite undertone of the hardest steel.

"**_I am the Maker, creator of all worlds. I created both wizards and muggles to live in harmony, relying on each other's strengths to make a perfect world. I created you perfect in My eyes, Tom Riddle. I gave you challenges, because I knew that you had great potential. You could have been the greatest of my children with the gifts I gave to you. Instead, you squandered your inheritance on a false search for immortality and ill-gotten power. Rather than being a child of the Maker, and a creator of harmony, you chose to sow discord, hatred and death. I see into your soul, it is without excuse and without any redeeming quality. You could have become immortal in the true way, like the people you see in the court, your accusers. They have earned their rest and joy through eternity. You have earned nothing but separation and condemnation. You shall carry your guilt and sorrows for eternity. This is the sentence of this court."_**

By this time, Voldemort was laying prone on the floor, so burdened was he with the weight of the guilt which he had earned. The creature who had taken the evidence now came over to him and lay its hands upon his head. The pain, terror and sorrow which he had caused throughout his life poured into his head and body. It was worse than a hundred _Crucio_ curses pouring in all at once. Voldemort thought that he would go insane with the weight and pain, but somehow he instinctively realized that he would not be able to escape in that manner. His mind would remain clear and sane throughout the rest of eternity, but he would also have the pain to go with it. Even worse for him was that every time a painful memory of his wretchedness would enter, he would also see a different outcome, what might have been had he not committed that action. The trial replayed itself, as well as what his eternity could have been like. He saw scenes where he had joined his mother and father, now reunited in perfect understanding and forgiveness. He saw how he could have improved the world and received his reward. He saw himself doing good and receiving the temporal power he had always wanted, becoming a gentle and much loved leader who was celebrated in life and mourned in death. He also saw himself receiving true immortality from the Maker.

He attempted to beg the Maker for forgiveness, however he could not speak the words, he could no longer look at that imposing Personage sitting on the bench. The very light cast out by the Maker now caused excruciating pain.

"**_TESTAMONY HAS BEEN HEARD, GUILT HAS BEEN CONFIRMED AND SENTENCE HAS BEEN PASSED. TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE, YOU MUST NOW LEAVE US TO JOIN YOUR FOLLOWERS AND ALL OF THE OTHER EVIL ONES WHO HAVE PASSED THROUGH THIS COURT. YOU SHALL NEVER AGAIN BE ALLOWED TO GLIMPSE UPON THE LIGHT. BEGONE, ACCURSED ONE!"_**

With that, the floor opened up underneath Voldemort. The weight of his guilt pulled him through the hole and into the darkness. He heard the screams of his Death Eaters who had gone to their dooms before him. He heard other, non-familiar voices, other accursed ones. He was still falling, unable to see, but aware of everything around him, his own pain of judgment as well as that of all of the others. He wondered when he would stop falling and hit some type of bottom. He wondered this for a long time until he realized that the falling was also eternal.

Back in the courtroom, the judges and the Maker had left the bench, and the seats were slowly emptying. There had been somewhat of a shock to all who had not completely grasped the depravity of Tom Riddle. Some of the last to leave were James, Lily, and Sirius. They stood up with visible looks of relief on their faces.

"So it's finally over, and Harry fulfilled his mission" Lily had a look of pride on her face.

"Yes, Honey, he did the world and the Maker proud. He may end up being the greatest wizard who ever lived." This from James.

Sirius interjected, "There is something that I haven't let you in on yet, Harry asked me to hold off until after the dust settled. He and Ginny Weasley are having their formal binding vows within 6 months. He seems pretty excited. I spoke to him at the sweat lodge recently, and he said that the next time that he comes, he would bring Ginny for you guys to meet." This brought smiles from both of Harry's parents, but Lily also stopped and stared forward at a figure who was just ahead.

"Boys," she said, pointing, "I think that it is time to do what we discussed. I don't think that you should put it off any longer."

"Alright, I guess it can't keep on this way forever, " said James. "Severus!" Ahead, Snape turned around in surprise, then his eyes narrowed.

"Potter, Black. To what do I owe this interruption of my eternity?"

"Well, it's like this, Severus…. We would like to apologize………."

_A/N: Voldemort always thought that death was the end, but through the stories, we have seen it is not. And if death brings rewards for the good, and those rewards are eternal, then using the yin/yang principles, death should have an equal and opposite effect on the bad… and old Voldy is really, really, BAD!_


End file.
